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How two officials testing positive depicts the state of Indonesia's COVID-19 response
A lack of transparency and inconsistent policy have eroded trust in public officials.
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Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto is pictured in Jakarta on Feb. 24. 2020. Despite leading the national economic recovery and COVID-19 response team, Airlangga managed to keep his recent COVID-19 infection secret until Jan. 19, 2021, sparking criticisms on the lack of transparency. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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f there was ever an apt saying to accurately depict a nation’s troubled COVID-19 response, it could be summed up as follows: “When you point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you.”
In Indonesia’s case, the government has incessantly pointed the finger at the public’s poor track record for health protocol compliance as the reason for the surge in new infections; the national COVID-19 task force went as far as to say that people were “digging their own graves”.
Indonesia logged 476 COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, setting a new daily record and bringing the total death toll to 29,331. This new low came just days after the country surpassed the 1 million cases mark, with only 6 million people tested and a positivity rate still hovering above the ideal rate of under 5 percent.
But while noncompliance indeed hampers efforts to control the outbreak, experts and observers suggest that the state has not equipped the people with enough means to begin with, whether consistent policies or much-needed assistance and outreach.
Read also: Yearender 2020: What went wrong with Indonesia's virus response?
Another easy way to help people understand the gravity of the situation is to set a good example, but even this can go over the head of some public officials.
The national task force has urged the public to be candid about their COVID-19 status and any history of contact with others for tracing purposes, but critics have bemoaned that this treatment did not apply to people in their own ranks.
